Heart of the Wyrm
by Six-string Samurai
Summary: Given enough time, even the sins of one's parents can be redeemed. A tale of regret, recognizance and maybe a little revenge. Kigo...or is it?
1. Prologue part 1

Kim Possible belongs to Disney. This is a work for fun not profit.

"Heart of the Wyrm"

A fan fiction by Six-string Samurai

**High in the Mountains to the North of Mega Go City…**

Shafts of liquid gold, the first of the sun's rays, shone down through the jagged stones, barely illuminating two figures that slowly ascended the sheer cliff face, less than a hundred meters from a wide ledge.

The lead form, a young woman in her early twenties, moved surely from hand hold to hand hold, every now and then shooting a quick glance down to ensure her partner was following suit. Satisfied at what she saw, the woman continued to climb, pausing now and then to secure the safety line they were using to a clamp hammered into the stone. It had been a long, but thankfully uneventful, trek from the small base camp she'd set up the night before.

This marked her second trip up since they'd confirmed the location, the first time she had been solo. She found the journey took much longer when accompanied, due in no small part to sporadic complaints from further down the rope.

The voice of her partner drifted up across the empty span, "We almost there? 'Cuz my hands are killing me."

God, it never stopped. "Yeah, I can see the edge," she paused to wipe the light sheen of sweat off her brow with the back of a gloved hand. "Two hooks away." Resuming the ascent, she shot over her shoulder, "Then we can get to work."

"Aw, jeez. Can't we rest a few minutes?"

"And waste our head start on the day? Not happening. You saw the pictures. We have no idea how long it's going to take to get through those doors," she shot a look downward at her climbing gear, purple skin-tight long-sleeve shirt, and black bicycle shorts. The young man secured to the rope below her was dressed similarly, and neither of them was wearing suitable clothing for the wind chill that nightfall would bring. "I want to get in before nightfall, thank you very much."

She shook her head slightly in exasperation, silently grateful for remembering to bring along a hair tie this time; yesterday she'd been fighting a mouthful of red tresses every time the wind decided to pick up. Yet on more thing that irked her about her companion, as the skinny youth kept his blond hair trimmed short, barely past the middle of his forehead in front. It was a style she'd considered, once, opting instead to cut it off just above her shoulders. It had taken the better part of a year to grow it back the way she liked it. There was a sort of comfort in the extra weight, something she missed the moment she'd put down the shears.

But that was neither here nor there, she brought her attention back to the task at hand, frowning that she'd let her attention wander. Not a very safe prospect at this altitude.

A span of breaths later and her hand reached the ledge, pulling her up and over. Taking in the slack on the rope a bit at a time, it wasn't much longer until company joined her, shallow of breath.

"You positive we've got a ride back down," the thin blond gasped as he plopped down on the cold rocky ledge, sitting a few feet from the drop off.

"It's taken care of. Paul will be on his way as soon as I give the signal."

"Paul? Paul…why does that sound so familiar," the young man propped his chin on a palm as he continued to rest, sitting cross-legged. Not three seconds later, his eyes widened. He turned to the red head. "You're not talking about that Paul, right? The one with the mangy beard? I mean, the guy's crazy! Everyone knows that."

The girl fixed him with a look and a shrug. "Do you know anyone else that has access to a functioning chopper?" She waited for a reply that she knew wasn't coming. "Right. Didn't think so." As she spoke, she finished gathering up the safety line and started re-coiling it, looping it up into a tight, portable bundle. "Besides, he's not as bad as everyone likes to claim he is."

The blonde narrowed his eyes. "How're we supposed to pay him? From what I've heard, the guy doesn't do anything for free. What's he getting out of this? It's not like either of us is rolling in the cash right now." His arm waved around the ledge. "This is supposed to be our meal ticket!"

"And, that's still the plan. Don't worry, I've totally got it all worked out." The redhead flicked her ponytail over one shoulder. "You let me deal with Paul."

He folded his arms, grumping. "I still think we could have found someone else."

"Like I said, I'll handle it. Besides, first things first. We've still got to deal with this baby," the red head turned, tossing the bundle of rope over against a small pile of rocks near the mountain face that still rose quite a distance up above the two. Her eyes lit on the sizable metal slab hatched into the rock at the back of the ledge they were standing on. "Right now, the chopper isn't going to mean squat if we can't get inside."

The blonde rose from his seat, jaw gaping at the find. Scrabbling across the ledge, his hands were all over the slab, fingers running along the seam between the metal and the rock, brushing off countless years of dirt and thin tendrils of plant life. "This is really it, isn't it."

Stretching her arms and popping her back, the red head watched as her longtime partner worried at the ancient door like an overexcited dog. "It matches the coordinates we found. And if we're wrong, I mean, what are the odds of finding anything up here in this exact spot?" Seeing the off put look that she was getting she answered it for him. "Don't hurt yourself, it's pretty astronomical."

"Oh, right." He turned back to the door, resuming his search for a way to get it to open. "I still don't see why we can't just blast our way in."

"Yeah, we're on the side of a mountain, on a tiny ledge no less, and you want to use explosives? I'm real glad that I didn't let you plan this one." She put a hand to her temple, feeling the beginnings of a headache. "Seriously, just do your thing and get us in there. I was up here all yesterday afternoon tapping and scratching at that damn thing and didn't find jack."

Smirking, blondie interlaced his fingers and pushed his arms out, cracking his knuckles in the process. Letting go, he rolled his head from side to side and then his shoulders. There was a series of tiny pops as he worked out the kinks. Once he limbered up, he fixed his partner with a small grin. "Okay, let's see what this baby's got."

It didn't even take two minutes.

"Who's the Man huh, who's the Man!"

The redhead watched as her partner did a little sidestep shuffle and spun pointing his hands at her for a moment, held in the shape of a gun, before thrusting them back toward his chest, nearly jabbing his thumbs into his shirt.

"This guy! Am I the best or what? Tell me I'm the best."

She just shook her head, and rolled her eyes. "Your ego doesn't need any more stroking, so, sorry, no dice."

"Aw, you never say it."

"What can I say; I'm a girl who's set in her ways. You'll just have to deal. Now, come on, we're burning daylight." With that, she unclipped a flashlight from the utility belt around her waist and stepped up to the darkened hole that lay beyond the metal hatch, poking her head just inside. "God, it smells rank." She coughed, covering her mouth and nose with her free hand. "At least we know no one's been in there for a long time."

Sudden sputtering and coughing from just behind her shoulder told the young woman that her partner was following.

"Jeez, I should've brought some air freshener. Smells like something died."

Ahead of them, the thin beam of light rapidly vanished into the thick musty air. But, it went far enough that they could tell they were facing a long narrow corridor, and moreover, beyond the doorway, the walls weren't stone as she had been expecting, but the same solid slate gray of the metal hatch.

"How far do you think it goes?" Blondie spoke over the red head's shoulder.

"Your guess is as good as mine. We're just going to have to find out."

"Uh, right. So…"

"So, what?"

"You know, lead the way."

"Do you always have to act like such a wuss?"

"Hey, who's the one who got the door open? I did my part. You're the ruin expert, not me."

"And you're the guy." The red head shot back, without looking. It was a moot point anyway, since she always went in first. Honestly she didn't care one way or the other, as they'd been doing this sort of thing for the past six years, and he was just as experienced at it as she was. In the end, it really didn't matter who led the way. But, she teased him about it just the same.

"You always say that." He pointed out.

She countered, "Doesn't make it any less true. Now come on, get your butt in gear unless you want to get left behind." With that, she strode off, sure footsteps padding an echo against the smooth ground.

It took a moment for her partner to realize that she was the only one holding a light, and he took off down the corridor, hurrying to catch up to the bobbing beam.

After the better part of two hours, the two ruin explorers had finally made their way through every hall and corridor they could freely access, marking out the doors, the majority of which had been sealed shut; unlike the hatch they'd first come through, they never found any keypads, hidden or otherwise, to gain deeper access.

As they passed the latest locked door, the blond mused aloud, probably just to break the overbearing silence of what had grown to feel like a giant tomb, despite the lack of bodies, "I bet all these entryways are power activated. We still haven't found any generator room, and with something this size, you know there's gotta be one."

"Unless, with our luck, it's locked away like everything else." While it was true that they hadn't run across anything other than cobwebs and dust, much less something of value, even the red head didn't believe it for a minute. That would be the dumbest idea ever, to put your power source somewhere that became inaccessible the very moment it was most useful.

"Maybe there's a backup generator we can get to," supplied her short-haired friend.

She nodded absently, playing the light along the walls. "It's possible."

The blonde nodded along with the motions of the flashlight, responding as if by rote. "Yeah, anything's possible fo-"

There was a whirl of red and suddenly the blond was cut off mid-sentence and all but blinded by the beam of light shining directly in his eyes as a leather gloved hand mashed up into his mouth.

"Don't you fucking finish--"

Even blinded by the light as he was, the blond swore he could see a pair of eyes burning with anger just beyond. The taste of dirt and worn leather was bitter in his mouth.

"I'm not warning you again. Nod if you got me," each word was almost bitten off they came out so harsh.

He could only comply, it had been an accident after all, and he couldn't blame her reaction either, it was just the way things were.

"Good," the glove fell away, wetly glistening, from being halfway jammed between the blonde's lips, as it passed back through the beam and into shadow. "Let's go, I want to start checking the rooms we found open." The red head's voice rang low and was much softer this time.

"I didn't mean it. I'm really sorry."

She turned around to face him again, but the light stayed pointed away this time. "I know." It might have been an apology. Silence reigned, stretching for several heartbeats. "Come on, we've still got a lot of ground to cover, especially if it's in one of the locked rooms. This could take a lot longer than I planned for." She turned away again, moving back toward the last open room they'd run across.

It was the only apology the blond was going to get, and he knew it. One of these days, he was going to slip up, and push a little too far. Shivering, he shook the blood back into his limbs and once again rushed to keep up.

As she'd feared, it wasn't the room she was looking for, that much was obvious the moment she'd put a foot in and shined her light. Sure, she could have taken a peek back when they'd discovered the door wasn't jammed shut like most of the rest, but it was part of her method, and she'd never been one to stray from a tried and true thing; especially when it worked.

No, not with a relic like this place, she'd never had to worry about anything laying in wait for an ambush judging by the inches of undisturbed dust and grime coating everything. Hers was the first breath to exhale here in years, if not decades.

Shrugging, she let the beam skim the walls and then turned her back on the empty room. "Nothing."

"Man, I was hoping this would be it."

"When have we ever had it that easy?"

"Um, pretty much never."

The red head nodded. "Alright, where was the next one?"

The blond fished out the little electronic notepad he'd been sketching the layout on. Scrolling along the diagram with the stylus, he narrowed his eyes. "Uh," after a moment he jabbed the plastic wand down along the bend in the hall. "Two hundred meters…that way."

So they went.

The second room proved to be some kind of storage closet, filled almost to the ceiling with stacks of wooden crates, all bearing a logo on the side.

Regardless that it was obviously the wrong place, the red head pushed the sliding door open as far as it would go, and stepped in, walking over to the closest stack so she could read the tiny writing under the stylized logo. "Hench Company. Hmm, wonder if it's the same junk we found last time."

"Back at the last place?" the blond recalled the defunct company. They'd found similar crates in a few of the old ruins across the country. Usually, the wooden boxes were already broken into, and empty. There had been a few occasions where they had been fully intact though. But, the contents had hardly ever been salvageable, mostly just bits and pieces of broken machinery. It had been his guess that those weren't the original contents. It hardly made sense for a business to sell useless trash.

Of course, he'd pointed out the first time they'd found a stash, that was likely the reason the company had gone bankrupt.

"We'll come back later and check these out," the blonde's partner informed. "Where to next?"

In the end, they lucked out and none of the accessible doors led anywhere significant, neither did they run across more potential loot after finding the crates.

"Shit, we've got to find a way to get into the rest of the rooms now."

The blond looked up from the map; all of the doors he'd marked as open were now scribble out. Eyeing the tiny map again he frowned. There were still almost a dozen locked doors, but they still hadn't found any sign of a power source. Then again, the mountain they were in was fairly sizable, and so far they hadn't seen anything that might lead deeper down.

Moreover, none of the doors resembled the double wide sliding doors that they'd found in previous ruins, the kind that they'd come to identify as elevator doors.

Shoulder to shoulder, going over the crescent shaped diagram, they both knew they'd somehow missed something. The question was where was it?

The red head spoke up for the both of them. "We're going to have to make another pass."

"Man, this place sucks."

"Yeah, tell me something I don't know. Just remember, we know it's gotta be here."

"Shouldn't we check the boxes, you know, just in case?"

The light popped up from its course on the floor ahead of them to point at the blonde's torso, just shy of getting in his face.

"Were you even looking at the same plans I was? There's no way that thing would fit into one of those tiny things, they're barely 4x4! The unit's easily three or four times that size--" The red head cut her speech off, not wanting to start ranting at her friend just because he said stupid things now and then. If she started to lose her patience now, it would be that much harder to bear trudging around in the dark deep in the earth with the present company.

"Okay, okay…chill. No reason to bite my head off." The blond held his hands up in mock hurt. "Just an idea. Forgot you were the only one that was supposed to have those."

The light swung away. "No, you're right. This is just a little frustrating. We've already combed this place twice. I just don't see how we both could've missed anything. There has to be a way to get further inside." The red head tapped the side of the flashlight in thought. What was it? What was she overlooking?


	2. part 2 of 3

Kim Possible belongs to Disney. This is a work for fun not profit.

**Heart of the Wyrm**

A fan fiction by Six-string Samurai

It was on their fourth go around that they finally found it, a patch of wall that was slightly recessed less than a quarter of an inch from the rest and easily missed in the pitch blackness that filled the crescent ruin.

The two explorers had stopped speaking to one another nearly an hour ago, and the silence had grown thick, almost a third, if unwelcome, companion, one that fled momentarily at the discovery.

"Please, please, please let this be it," the red head spoke, almost giddy with anticipation after all the tiresome inch by inch searching they'd been doing for the better part of the day. The last glance she'd taken at the glowing face of her watch had read a quarter past eleven. A little mental math and it worked out to just under five hours since they'd first come through the hatch at the entrance. Even so, they were ahead of schedule, and that was enough in her book. "What's the verdict?"

The blond ran his hands along the indented segment, little bigger than a three foot by seven foot rectangle, and dwarfed in comparison to the ceiling which disappeared high above where the beam of their flashlight could penetrate. "I can do it. No sweat." He managed a grin that seemed to wipe away the weariness that had long settled on his face. So saying, he rubbed his hands together for a moment, then closed his eyes, brow furrowing in fierce concentration. It was the same expression he'd worn countless times before, and precluded feats that even his longtime partner still found amazing.

For a moment, nothing happened, but his partner knew that the time varied, and she didn't have long to wait.

It was here, enveloped by the natural dark that the blonde's power became most evident. At first, the glow was so faint it might have been a trick of dust crossing the flashlight's beam, but with each passing breath, the light blue nimbus that sprang up from his skin became brighter and larger, eventually coalescing into a visible aura that crackled with power.

While it was hardly the first time she'd witnessed the phenomenon, it was one of the few times in recent memory that the halo of light that her partner exuded was so highly visible. In daylight, there was merely a faint shimmer around him, much like a heat mirage flowing across a dune in the desert. Here, within the earth and rock, it flickered and raged, an azure testament to the power that lay buried in her friend's heart. A primal force that by its very nature was wild and raw.

It was also incredibly unpredictable.

The young man's eyes snapped open, shining with a fierce light. One of his arms flashed out, tapping a seemingly random point on the recessed space, and then suddenly the aura fled, winking out like a snuffed candle, allowing the dark to return.

For a handful of seconds, nothing visible happened, and the blond could feel his friend's frown questioning him. "Think it's broken?"

"You tell me, you're the king of the chimps."

"Monkey Master, c'mon, it's not that hard to remember."

"Primate Prodigy, you mean?"

"Now I know you're just making fun of me," it was the blonde's turn to frown. "I get enough of the joking from dad; you don't have to keep rubbing it in."

"I'm your best friend; I'm supposed to make fun of you."

"That's harsh. Isn't that kind of backwards?"

"Somebody's got to keep your feet on the ground."

"Hey, I'm pretty down to earth."

The red head rolled her eyes. "So you're not the greatest thing since sliced bread?"

"I never said I was."

There was a snort of amusement, followed by a short chuckle. "Good one. Guess that mean's you're not the Man, huh?"

"No, I mean, wait, uh--"

A loud click and several snaps then a quick whoosh of displaced air brought the jesting to a halt, and the two turned as one to find a gaping space had replaced the segment of wall. The secret door was open.

"Yes! See, I knew--"

The blonde's gloating was cut prematurely short as his friend nudged his arm with the flashlight. "Just go, before your head starts to swell any bigger. I don't want to have to pop it to get you to fit through the door. I'd hate to be covered in yuck for the rest of the time I'm in here.

The blond clamped his jaw shut, not wanting to risk getting walloped in the head with the metal light. He knew she'd do it too.

The area beyond the wall wasn't at all like the corridor they'd left. Instead it gradually fluted out until the walls to the side fell away, lost to the shadows. The space felt more like a cavern than anything else. Like the rest of the ruin, it was mostly composed of empty space, though they did find a cluster of metal tables covered with decrepit and pitted out computer equipment. Strangely, there were scorch marks and carbon deposits dotting the ground, and a few of the far walls the explorers eventually reached.

"What do you think this place was used for?"

The young woman shook her head, sending her pony tail flopping. "Experiments, maybe. That or target practice. I don't know." She eyed a few scrape marks on the floor that caught the light. "A lot of stuff was moved around, but everything's gone now. The crap in the corner doesn't tell me much either."

"Think the thing was here?"

"No, I don't see any kind of power conduit connectors on the walls, or the floor. It's gotta be somewhere else. Let's keep looking."

The blond nodded, staying near the light that swept back and forth across the cavernous room.

Eventually, they crossed the length of the room and reached the far side, where they found another much larger double door waiting. It was half propped open, luckily for them.

The entryway opened into a smaller series of rooms, most just as empty as the rest, though a few had overturned tables and unidentifiable gutted equipment. The two made quick work of the rest of the hidden wing, eventually reaching another impasse in the form of twin doors that mirrored the one leading out from the cavernous room.

Unfortunately, unlike before, these were not left open. As it turned out, neither were they locked.

Working together, they managed to pry the doors open wide enough to wedge the handle of the flashlight in and use it to lever them open. Squeezing through the gap one at a time, the red head went in first, as her partner had an easier time of keeping the door from sliding shut.

The red head in turn, planted her foot on one door and her shoulder on the other so the blonde would be able to slip through. "Okay, on three, two, one--"

Almost tripping over his own feet, her friend scooted through, making sure to snag the flashlight on his way. "Gah," he fumbled the light as the doors clicked shut behind them.

That's when they noticed something different about the place, setting it apart from the rest of the ruin that they'd been tramping around since early morning. There was a very faint radiance in the air, a bluish cast that emanated from the depths of the far wall.

The red head was first to notice it, but nearly put it off as an effect of wandering around half-blind for so long. That was until the blonde made a remark.

"Is it colder in here, or is it just me? I think I can see my breath."

"Kill the light."

"W-what?" The blonde shot a look down at the metal cylinder in his hands. Was something wrong with it?

"Just shut it off. I want to check something."

"Um, okay," he conceded hesitantly and they were plunged into complete darkness for the few seconds it took their eyes to adjust. "Hey, it's glowing over there." The blonde pointed a shadowy arm toward the furthest wall from the door, where indeed a hint of azure was pulsing at a slow interval.

It wasn't much light, and still far less than what the bulb of the flashlight put out, but they could still make out the faintest details of the room, as well as each other.

"That's enough; turn it back on so we don't trip over anything."

"Right, no problem."

Indeed, there was a high chance of that happening, as cables and tubes crisscrossed a good quarter of the floor about halfway into the room, and the walls were lined with huge cylinders, metal devices and other electronic equipment. It hadn't been evident before, but now that the door was closed, they could hear a dull throbbing hum resonate in the air. It seemed the blue light wasn't the only thing that betrayed the active state of the machines.

Unable to suppress the smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth, the red head grinned, "This has gotta be it."

The blonde was skeptical, "I don't know. That's a lot of stuff over there. It didn't look so big on the blueprints."

"Not that crap," the red head dismissed one corner of the room, and indicated the series of large cylinders from which the glow was coming. "The rest of it's probably generators, the Weapon is over there."

Mindful of the cords, they crossed the room together and came to a stop in front of the middle of four tall metallic cylinders that took up one corner.

The giant tubes were each only slightly taller than the two youths, and about a foot wider than either of them. Unlike the cylinders that flanked it, the middle one was clearly active, as the front of it, an opaque plastic composite, radiated the ethereal blue glow from within. The tube itself bore no telltale instrument panels or visible markings, though a good half-dozen conduits sprouted from the top, trailing down in a bundle to disappear behind the row of machines.

The red head placed her palm against the thick plastic, wiping at the faint sheen that was gathered there. The chill from within the tube was sharp enough to be felt even through her glove. Taking her hand away, she flicked it to the side, scattering the bits of frost that had adhered to the leather. "No wonder it's cold in here," she regarded her partner. "What do you think? There's no way we can drag this out by ourselves."

"No way, we're not opening it. We don't even know what's inside…it could be some killer alien virus! Or, what if it's a bomb that activates when it reaches room temperature? What then?"

"Calm down," she was smirking again. "You barely even glanced at those plans. There were little notes scribbled all over it, and nothing about any explosives. But, there was a ton of references to a 'Living Weapon,' and that doesn't bring to mind a virus. Besides, take a good look at these things," she swept her arm to encompass the four units. "They're obviously person sized, and a total waste of space if this D guy just wanted to contain a killer virus or two."

"That's even worse! We're at a disadvantage in the dark against cybernetic killing machines!" The blonde's face twisted in fear as his imagination conjured up images of his grisly demise at the hands of a thawed death machine. His feet took him one step backward, followed by another, and another. "The money's no use if we're too dead to spend it!"

"What the hell are you talking about? Stop spouting that crap and, hey," the blonde's partner shot out her hand to make a grab for his arm as his sneaker caught on one of the cables snaking along the ground. "Watch it, you're--"

Wind milling his arms, he fought to stay up, but gravity was a little too insistent and the red head was a little too far. Crashing to the ground in a tangle of cords, he fought to get back up. "Aw, man, that wasn't cool. Stupid cyborg."

"There's no cyborg, quit it already. Here, let me help you up before you get all tangled and," a snap and hiss of released coolant cut her off. "--break something."

They turned as one, looking toward the source of the hissing. Two of the cables snaked loose in from the top of the active tube, spraying jets of white mist freely into the air.

"I knew this was going to happen, the Death Machine is waking up!"

"Didn't you just say it was a cyborg?"

"Yeah, hello…_cyborg_ Death Machine. No one can stop it. Not you, not me," the blonde gibbered, lost in whatever fantasy he'd dreamt up.

It was times like this when she wondered why she continued hanging around him. The whole Monkey Magic thing just didn't even it out. Not when he got carried off on tangents so easily, and far too often for her liking, or comfort. Sure he was good for a laugh once in a while, and he could solve damn near any puzzle, or unlock nearly any door. But, having her personal skeleton key was often outweighed by having her own personal self-delusional barrel of monkeys.

As the jetting coolant sputtered to a halt, likely due to some override valve, to top it all off, the glow in the tube started to flicker, then dim.

"Damn, you better not have just killed our chances at hitting the jackpot."

"That's fine by me if it means we get to live…"

"Just, just shut up for a second."

He did, and there was a moment of silence as the tiny hum in the air died along with the remains of the light.

Eventually, the glow's absence left the pair again nearly sightless save for the single illuminating beam that the blond wielded almost like a weapon. He trained the white spot on the now defunct container, keeping a wary eye even as he lay sprawled amid power cables and thick coolant lines. Beside him, his partner too waited, watching for any further sign that her friend's clumsiness had triggered an irreversible event.

"Nothing's happening. Does that mean it's dead?"

The red head shifted her weight from one foot to the other, shooting a sharp glance his way. "Give it a few seconds, and then if it stays like that, we'll go check it out. It's not like I wasn't going to get you to open it up anyway." Jutting her chin in the direction of the tiny waves of coolant that were starting to escape through the edges of the thick plastic casing, she continued, "The front looks like it probably swings open, and obviously when it shut down, the seal broke. Look at all that mist spilling out. Whatever is in there isn't going to remain frozen forever. The question is, how long 'til it warms up? Ten minutes, an hour?"

"You're serious about staying here and waiting aren't you."

"Why wouldn't I be? I'm not about to leave and risk this thing running around loose. This place isn't exactly small, and there's no guarantee that it wouldn't somehow slip past the two of us in the dark and escape outside."

"But, we're on a mountain, where's it going to go?"

"You tell me. The only plans we had were for this machinery, not the weapon. It might be able to fly for all we know. Besides, it trying to escape is the best case scenario. If we're not here to keep an eye on it, the thing would have every opportunity to get out and ambush us in the dark. There's only one flashlight, if we're running and get separated, do you want to be chased and hunted while you're running scared and blind?"

The blond shook his head. "I don't want to be hunted period! This was all your idea anyway. Sell the thing and retire early, you said. Well, I missed the fine print when I agreed to this, you know, the part where it pointed out that I'd be fleeing for my life from cyborg Death Machines."

She slapped her forehead. Why did he always have to get melodramatic in times of stress? God, it irked her to no end. "Fine, give me the light and you can go back to base camp. You're going to have to climb back down though, because I'll still need to use Paul to get down with the weapon."

"And go back through the darkness? Hah, no way, no how."

"It's not my fault you didn't bring your own flashlight."

"Hey, I forgot it all right. Happy now? Can't even make a mistake around you without you biting my head off," the last part came out as a barely audible series of mumbles.

She heard it anyway. "I'm surprised the Monkey Magician can admit he made a mistake."

"Why can't you ever get it right? Between you and my dad, the two of you won't quiet with the mockery."

The red head shrugged. "Parents just do that kind of thing. It's his job to embarrass you."

"You're saying you're like my mom?" The look on the blonde's face was comical in its confusion.

"Please, I don't do it to embarrass you."

"Then--"

"I just feel like it. That's all."

"What? What kind of reason is that?"

"All the reason I need. I'm a girl, in case you forgot. You're not supposed to be able to figure me out."

"Okay…you could still just tell me."

"I did."

"But," the blonde waved the light as he tried to figure out where the conversation had changed around on him. "Uh. I can't win this can I?"

"I didn't realize there was something to win." The red head folded her arms under her chest. "This is the way things are, have been, and probably always will be. I wouldn't worry about it too much if I were you. Just sit there, relax and wait for the cash to come to us."

He didn't respond this time, and just did as she suggested, but that didn't mean he had to like it. For the mean time, he turned his attention back to watching the container like a hawk, or a really wary monkey.

--

A/N: A little nod to The Humbug in this part.


	3. Prologue End

Kim Possible is property of Disney. This is a work for fun not profit.

**Heart of the Wyrm**

A fan fiction by Six-string Samurai

Prologue End

Working together they managed to pry open the cylinder's front hatch. The red head had managed to wait for a whole ten minutes after the mishap with the coolant system still showed no results before her curiosity got the better of her. It had taken far less coercion on her part to get the blond to help than she'd figured, but then again, threats of violence generally worked wonders in her past experience.

"No, damn it, you're just scratching it." She frowned, holding the light with one hand so they could see what they were doing, and prying at the seam between the hatch and the unit. There wasn't much of an area to grip, but the broken seal had exposed about half an inch to work with, which was what her partner was working at with the edge of a multi-tool, attempting to lever more gripping space.

"Sorry, this thing is still iced up pretty good. I can't get a solid grip with the screwdriver."

"Just watch it; I don't want that popping up and sticking me in the arm."

"Me either." The blond re-focused on his work, finally managing to get a good angle, wedging the metal bit fully into the seam. "Hah, got it!"

"Great, now start prying. My fingers are going numb." She grimaced as faint tendrils of coolant slipped out going right through her gloves as the gap began to widen. "Geh, that's cold."

"You're telling me," he almost lost his hold on the screwdriver as he caught a face-full of the frigid air.

"Don't you dare let go, if you crush my hands, so help me," the red head let the threat dangle.

"Okay, okay…hang on; I think we almost got it."

With a hiss of escaping air, the hatch slipped its catch and popped open half a foot. The two explorers toppled backward to avoid the wave of remaining coolant that rushed out.

"Holy crap, that was close," the blond got to his feet first, pocketing the multi-tool and reaching over to help up his friend.

"Thanks," she brushed off her shorts, giving the coolant time to fully dissipate. "So, shall we see what our paycheck looks like?"

"Uh, go ahead, I can see just fine from back here." The blond backed away, making sure to be careful of the cords on the ground this time. He folded his arms across his chest in an attempt to ward off the cold that now permeated the room.

"Suit yourself," she shrugged, not really surprised at his answer. For a guy that took so much pride in his mystical abilities, he had a weird concept of the risks he was willing to take; an unnatural fear of robots was one of the contributing factors, at least this time. The red head gripped the flashlight and approached the hatch. It took a little elbow grease, but she managed to yank the portal open the rest of the way, until it swung free, clanging against the neighboring cylinder. "Oh," she stifled a gasp as her breath caught in her throat at the sight of what lay within, caked in a paper-thin layer of frost, parts of which were stained dark red, ever so slowly sloughing away in sheets.

"W-what is it?"

The red head canted her head back at her partner, angling her body so that his view was obstructed. "It looks like a woman. She's uh, leaving little to the imagination."

"Huh? A cyborg chick? That's just crazy enough to work. Can I see?"

"No, you can't. Not yet, anyway. And what the hell are you going on about?" She turned a little more to make sure he couldn't sneak a peek. But, the red head's concern was unfounded as her friend was lost in thought, muttering to himself with a furrowed brow and a hand on his chin.

"_--_it's a pretty basic concept, I mean who's going to suspect_ a __girl _cyborg Death Machine; especially a sexy one. It is a sexy one, right?" At this, he looked up, regarding the container with a critical eye. "It'd be the only one capable of getting close enough to the target to execute the mission with a flawless victory." Now he was starting to run on a tangent in his mind, scratching the back of his head. "I just don't get why it had to be frozen? Maybe it's more human than machine, and the biological parts degrade over time, so this was the best way to keep it in top condition between assignments?" The blond started walking in a small circle, heedless of the power conduits once more. "Or, it could be--,"

"Uh, yeah, sure…whatever you say," the red head tuned out the blather that showed no sign of ending any time soon, and returned her gaze to the weapon.

As she'd informed the blond, the woman nestled in the capsule was less than fully dressed, or more from the look of it, had suffered a major wardrobe malfunction. There were remnants of what appeared to have once been a skintight outfit, a dark black with swatches of emerald green, splotches of crimson evident on the surface of the green material. However, the only parts that remained intact were the from the leggings, covered in rips, up to just shy of the bottom of the woman's navel, and a patch covering her left breast and arm down to the elbow. The right side was missing, sheared off in a ragged diagonal tear, matching the angle that cut down toward her crotch. The woman's right arm was likewise bared. Despite all the damage to the outfit, there were no signs of physical trauma, not even so much as a scrape or telltale scar.

From what the red head could see, no small amount, the comatose woman's skin was flawless; her body tightly muscled even in repose. The one thing that worried her was the fact that the woman's skin appeared pallid. Though it was hard to be sure in the given lighting, her skin seemed to hold the faintest tinge of verdant. Of course, skin color could hardly be an indication of anything, if this woman, this weapon, was artificial in nature as the blond was behind her, insisting.

Even as she took all this in, she noticed the faintest stirrings of breath, and unavoidably, the swell of the woman's exposed chest rise and fall, almost imperceptibly, in the weakest of movements. "She's alive," the red head leaned closer, almost inside the capsule itself, which was less than a meter deep. "Well, breathing at any rate."

"Really," the question came from just over her shoulder, as the blond decided to take a look for himself. Apparently, the idea of a nearly naked woman, Death Machine or not, overrode his phobia of dangerous humanoid constructs. He ended up with a face-full of glove rather than the eye-full he was expecting, when the red head palmed his face, pushing him back a step.

"I don't care if it's a robot, cyborg, or whatever. No means no, and you're waiting until we get her covered up." The red head turned the light away from the exposed woman, shining it around the room. "Help me see if we can find something useful around here."

"But…," the blond stuck out his lower lip, sucking it back in when he caught the threatening stare his partner was directing his way.

"But nothing. Start looking or we'll have to just use your shirt instead."

Slouching, the blond complained, scuffing his shoe against the floor, narrowly avoiding a tube. "I don't see what the problem is, it's not like she's a real woman in the first place. Probably just synthetic skin poured over an indestructible composite skeletal frame."

"Just start looking," she felt the headache from earlier start to come back with a few of its little brothers and sisters.

"Fine, sheesh. Sometimes, you _do_ act kind of like my mom."

"Whatever, hurry up so we can get out of here. I still have to contact Paul. He better not take his sweet ass time getting here either." She guided the light as her partner made his way around the room, checking the equipment on the far wall.

The blond didn't care what it was; anything that would get the red head off his case was good enough for him, be it cloth, rag or even a cardboard box.

"I still don't see why we have to rely on that jerk. He charges an arm and a leg, in case you forgot. Remember, last time he even suggested that you--," The light snapped off suddenly, leaving him groping around in the dark, flailing his arms wildly in order to not slam into the generators he knew were somewhere just in front of him.

"No, trust me, I didn't forget. As far as I'm concerned, he still owes me one for that little slip. I'll probably take it out of his fee after we get back down the camp." She tapped the handle of the light against her palm a few times. "We're going to make a killing off of this, so I don't think a few hundred is going to set us back all that much in the end. Besides, Paul might be a jerk, but you know just as well as I do that we'd be hard pressed to find another pilot willing to risk flying so close to Mega Go. Like you, he's good at what he does; just don't expect to get an intelligent conversation out of the deal." The light clicked back on once she was sure he had time to let the point sink in.

"Paul's not the only jerk I know," the blond mumbled, wondering if the fumes from the coolant were toxic.

"You're going to have to live with it. Just because we're friends doesn't mean I should have to put up with your weirdness all the time. It's not like I mind working with you, usually. You're always a big help, don't get me wrong…but sometimes, you say things that make me want to strangle you," she contemplated the wisdom of chucking the flashlight at him, but even that was beneath her at the moment.

"Uh, could we maybe talk about this some other time? You know, when we're not in the middle of grave robbing." The blond resumed his search, just knowing he was going to be out a shirt in the very near future. It felt like that kind of day.

"Grr, it's not grave robbing. One, this isn't a grave, it's a ruin. And two, we're not stealing. Everything around here is so old, the patents, if there were any, are long expired. No one's coming back to claim anything, and even if they did, it would be stupid of them to mess with us."

Sometimes he wondered if his friend wasn't just a little bit on the wrong side of crazy, but he made sure never to voice his concerns, because that would be tantamount to signing his own death warrant. It was hard enough being around her on the good days, when she wasn't being overly bitchy, controlling and sarcastic, or making fun of his Mystic Monkey powers. The blonde hung his head, realizing for the umpteenth time, that those _were_ her good days.

As predicted, he ended up yielding his shirt to cover up the thawing weapon. Shivering, he relinquished the top to the waiting glove. "Can we hurry up and go now?"

"That's the plan. As soon as I get this on her, we'll have to figure out the best way to get her outside." The red head took the proffered shirt and went back to the open cylinder. "Right," she could tell just how much of a hassle this was going to be if she tried to put it on overtop of the ruined garments the woman was barely wearing. Not to mention the waist-length hair she'd have to work around. "How about we just tie this on, and call it a day. What do you think," the question was idly directed at the pale form nestled within the capsule. She wasn't surprised when no answer was forthcoming. "Yeah, we'll do that."

Shirtless and caught in the darkness of the corner, the blond rubbed his arms in an effort to ward off the creeping chill. Now that the hum of the machinery had ceased, the quiet was beginning to get to him again. Willing to risk further violence, he moved back over closer to the capsules, the chatter of his teeth announcing his presence. "We're gonna have to carry her, aren't we?"

Looking up from her handy-work, the red head sighed. "Unless you found enough material to make a litter, then, yes, we're going to have to carry her to the entrance."

"There's not even enough around here to cover her…oh, gotcha," the blond realized in resignation. Then an idea occurred to him. "Wait, can't we just wake her up, it'd be a whole lot easier then." He seemed to think about that for a moment, eventually nodding to himself.

"_You_ want to wake up a potentially dangerous weapon, just because it would be more convenient?"

The blonde's pleased look faltered in the dim lighting. "Uh, No? Maybe it's not such a good idea."

"I'm not saying it's bad. For all we know, she could wake up any second, especially since you unplugged the freezer. I just figured with all the Death Machine talk, the last thing you wanted was for her to be up and around." The red head pointed out, smiling faintly at his obvious discomfort. "But, if it's not going to bother you, I'm willing to do the honors."

"W-wait! I'm totally down with carrying her instead."

"And if she wakes up while we're carting her around in the dark? It's going to be pretty hard to hold her and the flashlight, even between the two of us. It'll be slow going at best."

"Um, crap. I didn't even think of that. How else are we supposed to do this then? Piggyback her?"

The red head glanced at the sleeping woman, making a quick estimate on her weight. "I think she's a few inches taller than me, probably has twenty pounds on me too." Taking a look at her friend, she shrugged. "You could probably carry her better than I could. Or we could split the work, and grab an arm and a leg. You decide."

"You're letting me decide," his expression was incredulous, turning thoughtful just as quickly.

After thirty seconds of silence, he was interrupted.

"Come on; just help me get her out of this thing. We'll both carry her." She decided, not willing to wait for him to finish his internal debate. It was pretty much a simple yes or no answer anyway. What was there to think so hard about?

"What happened to letting me pick?"

"It's too late; you were supposed to spit out an answer yesterday, not sometime tomorrow."

"Why'd you even ask me then, if I couldn't think about it for a few seconds?"

"Hey, I make mistakes just like everyone else, now let's stop wasting time."

Hanging his head, he joined her in front of the open capsule. "Holy crap, I was right."

"Huh?"

"I told you that female cyborgs were supposed to sexy," he paused, arching a brow. "That's kinda weird though. Does she look sort of green to you?"

"Stop pointing, and yes, she does, now that you mention it. I thought it was this crappy flashlight."

"No, see," he splayed his fingers in the light, "normal, right?" Withdrawing his hand, the contrast became all the more obvious. "And voila, crème de menthe."

"Bravo. Master of the obvious. She's mint-colored, what's your point?"

"Hello? Cyborg assassins are supposed to blend in. That's _their_ point. She'd stick out in a crowd no matter what."

"It's not our problem, let the buyer deal with it," the red head said. "Besides, I think it's kind of exotic."

"But, she's green!"

"And you could use a tan, but you don't hear me complaining to everyone about it. Here, turn around and put your back toward her. You take her left arm, and I'll grab the right."

"I still think it's wrong that she's green." He said under his breath, maneuvering himself as she'd instructed. "Hey, who's going to hold the light?"

She ignored him for a moment, taking up her position and looping the pale woman's arm across her shoulders. "We can hook the light like this," she twisted a loop into the right strap of her tank-top, cinching the flashlight in place with her free hand so that it faced forward. "Perfect."

Moving together, they stepped away from the capsule, dragging the woman between them, reminiscent of carting along a drunken friend.

"Ugh, she's heavier than she looks," the blond complained, hitching the arm he was holding into a more comfortable position.

"She'd pretty warm too. Especially for being covered in ice not fifteen minutes ago."

"Does that mean we should go faster?"

"Probably," she spoke through gritted teeth as they made it to the door and out into the hall. "Exit's to the right, right?"

"Yep, the big room was down that way," the blond confirmed. "I'm pretty sure."

"Just check, so we're not walking around in circles."

"I can't reach the map, I put it in my left pocket. Arms are kinda full right now. Hold her for a second, and I'll get it."

"Hey, wait, I'm not ready," she almost toppled over with the sudden addition of dead weight when he let go of his side to dig for the map.

"Hah, knew it was here," the blond held up the scrawled map victoriously for a moment, then realized that the beam of light was almost pointed straight up at the ceiling. "Oh, crap…sorry, I thought you had a good grip." He scrambled to retake his share of the load, earning a glare in the process.

"Next time, give me a little more warning. I almost dropped her."

"Looked more like you were about to be smothered."

"Whatever." she waved him off. "Which way do we go?"

"Right, like you said, then the big room will be on the left. After that, we take another right in the moon hall, exit's at the end."

The red head started walking, forcing him to lurch forward in order to not trip over his own feet.

They'd made it halfway through the cavernous room before the woman between them showed the signs of awakening.


End file.
